What is student-athletes?

<p>Excerpt from LA Times</p>

<p>Sorry, boss.</p>

<p>What do you mean, sorry? </p>

<p>I couldn’t find anything.</p>

<p>I did the assignment. I visited one of Southern California’s most successful basketball teams this season, Occidental College, to find out how it could advance to the final eight for the first time in the programs’ 95-year history.</p>

<p>I tried. I showed up in Eagle Rock on Monday after the Tigers had returned from losing to Gustavus Adolphus in the Division III regional final last weekend.</p>

<p>They don’t have cheerleaders. Well, they have them, but they didn’t show up for any of the games this year.</p>

<p>“A great year,” Newhall said. “But we got shut out on cheerleaders.”</p>

<p>OK. So surely some of their great players are being paid? </p>

<p>Well, yes, they are being paid. By their parents. For tuition.</p>

<p>It costs about $33,000 a year to go there, with room and board, and, as with all Division III schools, there are no athletic scholarships.</p>

<p>The players all receive money from home, financial aid, or places like Abercrombie & Fitch.</p>

<p>Oh, good, another scandal involving a retail store! </p>

<p>Um, no, players actually work at Abercrombie & Fitch during the season, or work at the library, or help teachers grade papers.</p>

<p>Virtually nobody on the team can just play basketball without holding down some sort of job.</p>

<p>Now we’re getting somewhere! Gym rats working and playing hoops all day at the expense of their studies! </p>

<p>Well, that’s not quite true, either.</p>

<p>In his 15 seasons, Newhall has graduated all 55 players who have been with him four years.</p>

<p>A 100 percent graduation rate? It must be illegal! Tell me about the puff classes and cheating tutors. </p>

<p>You want the class list of leading scorer Finn Rebassoo?</p>

<p>Quantum mechanics. Thermodynamics. National Security and Arms.</p>

<p>"This is my senior year, so I'm taking it kind of easy," he said.</p>

<p>Last season, on Saturday nights, Rebassoo would score 20 points, grab six rebounds, then spend four hours in a physics lab.</p>

<p>"The Tigers bring their books to games, frequently studying in the stands while waiting to take the court.</p>

<p>Players have missed games to attend debates. They struggle in games after pulling all-nighters. Everyone is so wiped out during finals, the team shuts everything down for two weeks.</p>

<p>I know, Boss, I know. That sounds backwards.</p>

<p>So how did this great season happen? </p>

<p>It started with the team’s seven seniors, all of whom have been there long enough to understand the hard facts of Division III basketball, the only non-scholarship college ball.</p>

<p>“When it all comes down to it, you only play here because you love it,” said Song Cun, a 5-foot-7 senior guard. “Your reward is attending a great institution.”</p>

<p>The uniforms carry only numbers, not names. The biggest mistake is failing to pass. The second biggest mistake is failing to defend.</p>

<p>This year’s team had 95 more assists than turnovers.</p>

<p>Opponents had 111 fewer assists than turnovers.</p>

<p>The Tigers defeated host Cal State Fullerton by eight points in a game that elicited a strange cheer.</p>

<p>“Their fans were yelling, ‘You got beat by guys who aren’t even on scholarship!’” recalled Cun.</p>

<p>The Tigers trailed Redlands by 30 points and came back to win by a point. Then they clinched their league title, and NCAA berth, on Cun’s three-point basket with five seconds remaining against Claremont-Mudd-Scripps.</p>

<p>“We’re the most boring team in America,” Newhall said.</p>

<p>Some might call them dull. Others might call them delightful.</p>

<p>So you’re telling me this is one of the cleanest teams in America and it still won?</p>

<p>“An NCAA rule book?” asked Rebassoo. “I’ve never even seen one.”</p>

<p>Rebassoo was the Rhode Scholar Candidate.</p>